Machine for pressing fabrics



Feb. 3, 1942. R. MARTIN ETAL 2,271,869

MACHINE FOR PRESSING FABRICS Filed July 29, 1959 Z MJMW Patented Feb. 3, 1942 MACHINE FOR PRESSING FABRICS- Robcrt Martin and Albert Mellor, S pondon-, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application July 29, 1939, Serial No. 287,345 In Great Britain September 15, 1938' 3 Claims.

The invention relates to machines for pressing fabrics. Many types of fabric are subjected to what is known as a press finish by means of which their appearance and handle are noticeably improved. Two types of machine are ordinarily used for this purpose.

One of these machines comprises a press with a plurality of steam heated platens, providing a large number of daylights, this press being loaded with lengths of fabric folded into zig-zag layers each separated by linen press paper, so that each daylight receives a large number of thicknesses of fabric. When the press is loaded, steam heat is applied to the platens and pressure is maintained on the layers of fabric for a substantial time, this being necessary to enable the heat to penetrate to the centre of each batch made up of the alternating layers of fabric and paper. The operation of the machine is obviously discontinuous in character, and, apart from the time taken for the actual treatment, much time is consumed in loading and unloading the machine.

A further type of machine involves the passage of a length of fabric sandwiched between linen press paper, through a press having steam heated platens which are closed for a substantial time and then opened to permit the progressive and automatic passage of the fabric to enable an adjacent length to be treated, control gear being incorporated to provide the necessary sequence of pressing and feeding operations. Such a machine may be arranged with several daylights to enable a larger number of lengths of fabric to be simultaneously treated.

The pressing machine according to the present invention does not operate in discontinuous manner, but provides for continuous and uniform passage of the fabric to be treated. The machine is both simple in character and easy to operate,

The machine is applicable to the press finishing of fabrics in general, it being particularly useful for the treatment of lining fabrics, as, for example, fabrics made of or containing artificial yarns, for example, cellulose acetate yarns. The machine may operate in conjunction with any suitable steaming or other pre-treating device, over or through which the fabric passes before entering the nip of the paper bowls.

A form of fabric pressing machine according to the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the drawing accompanying the specification in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a calender showing the bowl heating shoes;- and Fig. 2 is a part side elevation showing the bowls with the heating shoes in non-operative position.

The fabric I passes over a steaming box 2 to .the nip of a pair of paper bowls 3, 4 mounted in bearings 5, 6 in the calender frame I. Above the bowl 3 is a steel bowl 8, mounted in bearings 9, screwed down on to stops In by means of hand wheels II. Below the bowl 4 is a steel bowl I2 mounted in bearings I3, capable of being pressed upwardly in the frame I by means of hydraulic rams I4. When the ram I4 is lowered, the bearings I3 rest on stops I5, and the bearings 5, 6 rest on stops I6, I! respectively. The stops l6, l1 and I5 are so positioned that the bowls 3, 4 and I2 can drop from their uppermost positions by say A-, A and %-inch respectively. This produces a daylight of a A;,-inch between the bowls 3, 4 for the passage of fabric between the bowls. When the rams I4 are raised, the bowl bearings are raised from the stops and the bowls press firmly against each other.

The bowls 3, 4 are large in diameter, say thirty inches, and their paper construction, involving the assembly under high pressure of paper annuli on the barrel of the bowl, gives the bowls a certain resilience, so that the pressure at the nip is distributed over a substantial area of the fabric. At each side of the bowls 3, 4 are arranged steam heated shoes I8 having their inner surfaces machined to give a close fit against the bowl surface. The shoes are carried by levers I9, pivoted at 20 and slotted at 2| to be engaged by a pin 22 carried by a bracket 23 mounted on thebowl bearing 5 or 6. When the rams I4 are lowered upon cessation of the fabric-pressing operation, the lowering of the pins 22 rocks the levers I9 about the pivots 20 and carries the shoes clear of the surface of the bowls. When, however, the rams are raised to apply pressure between the bowls, the shoes I8 are automatically carried into contact with the bowls. Therefore, as long as pressure is being applied by the bowls, 3, 4 to the fabric I passing between the bowls, the surfaces of the bowls are heated by means of the shoes I8.

The fabric is thus subjected to pressure over a substantial area at the nip by the heated paper surfaces of the bowls. Therefore, although the fabric passes continuously through the nip, it is subjected on both sides to relatively prolonged pressure by heated paper surfaces which give the required press finish to the fabric, the type of paper used being chosen in accordance with the type of finish required, Thus, to obtain a finish similar to that produced by hot pressing fabric between linen paper sheets, the bowls are constructed with linen paper annuli, it being found that the carefully finished surface provided by the edges of the assembled annuli closely resembles the surface of the sheets of paper from which the annuli are formed.

As the bowls 3, 4 rotate, their contact with the steel bowls 8 and I2 maintains the smoothness of their paper surfaces. When the machine is not in operation, this pressure is relieved by lowering the rams 14 so that the paper bowls are freed from any localised pressure, and at the same time the automatic removal of the shoes I8 from contact with the bowls prevents over-heating of the paper.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for pressing fabrics in a continuous manner, comprising a pair of rotatable paper bowls of large diameter, means for pressing the bowls towards each other to nip the fabric during its passage between the bowls, shoes curved to fit closely against the surface of the paper bowls, means for heating the shoes so as thereby to heat the bowls superficially, and means for withdrawing the shoes away from the bowls.

2. A machine for pressing fabrics in a continuous manner, comprising a pair of rotatable paper bowls of large diameter, means for pressing the bowls towards each other to nip the fabric during its passage between the bowls, shoes curved to fit closely against the surface of the paper bowls, means for heating the shoes so as thereby to heat the bowls superficially, means to move the bowls apart from each other to release the pressure between the bowls, and means for withdrawing the shoes away from the bowls automatically upon movement of the bowls apart from each other.

3. A machine according to claim 2, wherein levers carry the shoes and wherein the bowlbearings carry pins that engage the levers in such a manner as to swing the shoes towards and away from the surfaces of the bowls by the movement of the bowls towards and away from each other.

ROBERT MARTIN, ALBERT MELLOR. 

